Friday, 28 November 2014

How's everyone enjoying Black Friday? The mania has hit the UK this year too, I think thanks to Amazon - when they rolled out their daily deals what other store then stood a chance without a reduction bonanzoo? So this year they've learnt and everywhere is crazipops. Here's my Black Friday purchases:

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

but it is tuesday so here's a fab artist interview for you - check out these bears, I'm in love!!

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.I have always found it hard to put into words what kind of artist I am. I love all mediums and I like to try everything. I never follow patterns or rules, I just see an image in my head and go for it. I have had no formal training. Like most kids I learnt how to knit and sew before starting school. After mum had done all her chores she would pull out a box of wool and bits and pieces and we would play. Before I knew it I had created something for my dolls to use. I have never known restrictions on creating. So I guess I’m a free form artist. I love spinning fibres into beautiful wearable art and I never repeat the same thing twice. I love that there is only one of it’s kind out there. At the moment I’m very much into making books, journals with secret compartments and different handmade papers inside for people to add to and make it their own. I like to create art that people can interact with and add their own flavour too. Art that keeps on giving.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?My biggest challenge is getting started. Especially when all my ideas come to me at night when it’s too late to start anything. At times I do. My husband and I will be chilling watching a movie and then I jump up turn all the lights on and start pulling everything out of my stash, spreading beads, threads, wool and paper all over the dining table and just going for it. If I don’t and the notion passes and its lost forever. My husband is quite used to it now lol.

Do you ever lose your mojo, and if so, how do you get it back?Yes, I do lose my mojo and it’s a horrible feeling! I hate! When I do, I like to surround myself with other creative people. Even if it’s just chatting about their last creation. Their passion on what they do normally rubs off. Or I will get on line and see what the rest of the world is up to, but nothing beats it more than going into a fantastic book store and running my fingers through the books in the Arts and Crafts section getting inspiration from endless possibilities.

What advice would you offer to any perspective new artist?

I would have to say don’t be afraid to just start creating. Don’t put yourself into an “ Artist" category, get rid of the labels until you know who and what you are. Be and do what comes natural to you. Don’t worry if your friends and family don’t get it (as its them that’s missing out) for there will always be someone who loves what you do. It took me many years to overcome this, so don’t be hard on yourself and just enjoy the creative journey.

Tell us where can we find out more about you & your art?You can find me at www.traceylee.com.au I have face book and a blog. I’m a bit naughty not keeping my blog updated, but I’m hoping to get better.Thanks so much for sharing your art and work Tracey, as I said at the intro, I am in LOVE with your bears! Doll making is so on my creative to do list, but like all of us there is a bunch of other stuff on there I want to do & art journaling and journal making is always my first love so it gets sidetracked but seeing those gorgeous creations gets me inspired for it again - even if all I do is sketch a couple of ideas in my ideas journal so thank you so much for that =)

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Welcome to todays TAT post, but before we get into it it's CONFESSION TIME! I have had these ladies (yep today you get two lovely artists!) TAT interview for a shamefully long time, due to placing it in a wrong email folder (see technology isn't all that, filing issues still happen when we go paper-free!), so I want to publicly apologise to these ladies who I first met on online what feels like aggggeeees ago now & who are lovely not to mention talented. Sorry, sorry, sorry, with puppy dog eyes & trembling lip on top!

Please enjoy their interview =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are. Our names are Lisa and Yolanda, and we are lionpaw55 on YouTube. We are a married lesbian couple who love to create art using different multidisciplinary approaches. It is a common sight to see us crafting together in our scrap room as we enjoy challenging ourselves with the different colors, papers, techniques, and themes. That being said, "who are we as artists?" Lisa is a multimedia artist. She is also a bookbinder and paper crafter. Her art style is Impressionism, and she loves to draw buildings and villages. As for me, Yolanda, I am multimedia artist too. I enjoy creating multimedia on canvas, encaustic wax painting, 3D animation skits/plays, and some bookbinding. My style is influenced by a mish mosh of various art movements.

Mixed Media Canvas by Yolanda

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?The biggest challenge Lisa faces is not to put everything on a project. When she begins a piece, she doesn't even want to stop crafting until she is finished. It is also hard for her to stop thinking about future ideas while she is working on a current one. I really don't know if I have one as I look at everything I do as a learning experience. When I begin a project it is difficult for me to choose which idea I should try to do. I decide upon my direction, generally, when it feels right to me.

Bookbinding by Lisa

Do you ever lose your mojo, and if so, how do you get it back?No, Lisa doesn't lose it at all. She feels that she doesn't have enough time to create and craft because she already has the next project or two planned out. Do I ever lose my mojo? No, I don't. At best, I am usually very distracted by a new art technique or mediums that I want to incorporate into my artwork.

3D Art by Yolanda

What other issues to you overcome to accomplish your art?Other issues Lisa overcomes to accomplish her art is broadening her spectrum of colors that she enjoys using in her projects.

What is the best thing that art has brought into my life?Lisa discovering and sharing her enjoyment of creating mixed media with me.

We would like to thank Jennibellie for giving us her support, and a chance to introduce ourselves and artwork. Until then, we hope that some of you will stop by and say "hello" on our YouTube channel: lionpaw55.

Thank you so much ladies, and again I'm so sorry for misplacing your interview I feel so awful, but thankful I didn't actually delete it lol thank you for sharing and you know what? I think you guys are one of the first ever to say you don't lose your mojo, and for both of you to say it it made me think that you guys probably have a huuuuuge advantage by having your partner interested in the same hobbies as you...or at least even if you are working in completely different mediums at times, it's still similar enough so that both of you are interested in what the other is creating. Completely awesomesauce thanks guys =)

Tuesday, 11 November 2014

It's Remembrance Day and today always make me feel like it's a day to be thankful. Of course for those people of past that we perhaps never even knew, but who may have had a great impact on our lives as we know them today, but also to be thankful for today, and everything in it. I am grateful for you guys, for artists who want to share their stories here and for other artists who want to listen. I am grateful for artists, for people, who get me, and for people who just get each other who may not (or even need to) meet.

Tell us a little about yourself and what kind of artist you are.I was born and raised in northern California, but now reside in Florida. While I have always had my hands and feet in creative endeavors, it was a recent tragedy in my life that somehow unearthed my work as a mixed-media artist. After battling mental illness for years, my younger brother took his own life in December, 2011. As a way of grieving and healing, I picked up my brushes, pencils, and pens and began to work through my pain and loss.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?My greatest challenge as an artist is rooted in experiences from my past...when I was told, in so many words, that my art (and my writing) wasn't “good enough”...and that no one would ever really want what I created. It has taken me a long time to forge ahead and believe otherwise. The encouragement of friends and fellow artists have been key. This year I have also participated in LifeBook 2014 and that has greatly encouraged me. I also had to learn to fight off old feelings with prayer and verses from the Bible that encourage me.

What is your greatest personal achievement either in your art, or because of it?I feel that an essential achievement has been learning to grieve and heal from the pain of losing my brother so traumatically. It takes a lot of hard, intentional work to find peace and hope. One specific thing I have almost completed is the writing and publishing of a grief response journal entitled, "For Those Who Weep," which contains my art and writing. In addition, through my local hospice and the non-profit organization my husband and I started, I now facilitate free art classes for people who are grieving traumatic loss from either suicide, murder, or accidental death. All the proceeds from my Etsy prints and cards are used to fund these free classes.

What do you most wish your art to achieve?Through my art I long to offer hope to those who, like me, have lost a loved one. I want to help those whose hearts are broken to find healing and strength and to honor my brother's life. I also want to bring glory to God and to make scripture come alive on the canvas.

Thank you Penny for opening your heart to us and sharing your art and your love, which I think is very evident in the route you have taken since your loss. You have created something wonderful from something devastating, and I hope you manage to bring much healing to many people through your free classes. I am again thankful that there are people like you in the world.

TTFN, off for a loooooong chillax before I really do fall asleep at the computer and delete this post lol, but you'll see me before next week on here, as I'll be releasing arty goodness that is the mid-month challenge I've been working on, whoop! =) laters

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Happy Tuesday =) tuesday here means TAT day but I'm not gonna lie to you, I feel really funky junky funk today! Not sure what's going on, tried numerous ways to get out of it/shift it/ignore it completely and just enjoy myself. Nada! I'm honestly telling you this TAT interview has been the best thing I've come across to lift my junky mood a lil and get me motivated!

Serendipitous you may say.

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.I am an illustrator & art teacher in New York and mommy to two adopted dogs. I am personally interested in narrative art- telling a story through pictures and words, details, textures and mood. I lean towards dark, ambiguous images that may be interpreted in different ways. I primarily work in oil, but have had success with graphite and watercolor. Working with children for the past 20 years, I see how they intuitively intertwine words and images, which lead me to investigating transmediation. It means seamlessly moving between symbol systems, i.e. images and words. Coincidentally, that’s what you do with your beautiful journals! More recently I have been working on painting dog sculptures. I have two rescue dogs and I volunteer at a shelter, so dogs are very important to me. My new series will include dogs and Art Deco motifs. Maybe that’s the influence Downton Abbey is having on me, who knows!

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?Producing a body of work that is cohesive and that I am proud of. Most people want to sell, as I do, but what is much more important to me is that I have produced many pieces I can stand behind. This is probably the challenge most artists have, regardless of the medium or style. I remember an art professor I had in Venice, he said, “We all have 24 hours in the day: 8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep, you have to decide how to spend the other 8.” I think that is the point. If you live with purpose and are aware of how you spend your time, you will make time for making art. My wake up call was this spring realizing that it was many months from the last time I finished a painting. I made the decision to work every day. What does that mean? For at least one hour every day I work on my blog, paint, clean my studio, try new materials, draw in my sketchbook, etc. Something creative. In my opinion it is much more important to have small but steady incremental steps than to have fits and starts, with no direction. But that doesn’t happen unless you intentionally make a commitment to make art. Until I can make art full time I have to be careful how I make my schedule. That means I may have to say no to other things, and that’s ok. Think about it, in your final days, what will you regret: Not having spent more time on Facebook, or not having made more art? I have never regretted a minute I spent creating. It’s like anything else- you have to make the time.

Do you think you have achieved a uniquely recognizable style as an artist, or do you find it a struggle to find your own style?

Yes, I think this is common problem. You can see from my art that there is a range. One reason is that there are too many materials, options, new ideas, and techniques that pop up all the time. It’s the Shiny Penny Syndrome- you are focused on thing, and then get distracted by some other ‘shiny’ object. The problem? Nothing gets done. It is easy to be distracted. I don’t think you can ever be prolific at anything unless you narrow down what you are doing. That doesn’t mean to close yourself off to other artists or ideas or materials- but if you keep changing your mind as to what you want to do, you’ll never be at the highest level you can. In a nutshell, I’ve realized I need to focus on less things, but do them better than anyone else. I need to see it through. The other reason I think it is difficult to narrow down a style is as soon as something is difficult, or does not turn out the way you intended, our tendency is to shift gears, give up and go in another direction. Maybe that is the exact time we should push through and see what happens. I made an analogy to a musician friend of mine. I said, “ Do you think you have to write a lot of bad music before getting to the really good stuff?” He laughed and said, “Yeah I do, tons, but you just have to get through it.” Bottom line, art is a work of love, but work none-the-less. So I have to tell myself what I tell my students, “Less talking, more working.”

What inhibits you most from being the artist you want to be?I call it ‘negative speak”, you know, the voice in your head that needs to get a life. I have an artist friend of mine who went back to art school at the age of 42, after working in banking (ugh!). She is a little insecure about her ability. I said to her, “Look, when you see an amazing piece of art, remember that the artist was once a beginner and it took years to get to that point- you didn’t see the 500 bad versions he made.” I think about that when the voice calls. I have a quote posted in my studio, “What one man can do, another can do.” Immerse yourself with positive, creative people. That’s why I like Tim Gunn so much. All of us can learn from him- don’t be intimidated by others, be inspired!

Thank you so much Denise, as I said at the beginning you really motivated me with your interview. I'm so glad that I now of one more encouraging art teacher on this planet (I was not blessed with one myself), you've inspired me enough to put in a lil time arting this eve (when I might have just buried myself in chocolate instead) so I'm off like speedy-gonzales, thank you xx